If the player/PC demanding that they duel to "First Blood" (meaning literally the first strike that draws a visible injury) as the point at which Satisfaction occurs...
I think you're misunderstanding me. I'm stating that 1/3rd of your HP is the first strike that draws a visible injury. Given the abstract nature of D&D HP this makes sense. To a 60 HP level fighter taking 5 HP from a rapier strike is some shock up the arm from an poorly performed parry - it's not the same effect as a 4 HP peasant taking that 5 HP shot as a rapier through the torso.
We're already in a setting with low AC so doing HP on an early attack is easy. Between low level duelists that first hit is likely to do more than 1/3rd of their opponents HP. But at higher levels a fight to first HP loss is meaningless - ACs aren't going to grow as fast as BAB or HP, but since 1) HP are already an abstract of combat ability 2) HP are one of the main forms of defense in the game 3) HP are one of the main indicators of skill in the game giving HP some defined break points for when your defenses have been penetrated is worthwhile.
Otherwise it's all about initiative, which also controls AC. Making first blood = HP loss means that most battles are over in one round. Making it to over 1/3rd HP gives more time for people to change stances, jump onto benches, and do anything that would require more than taking a single attack.
Of four duels only Melas' got that effect, and that was because having seen the others I had his opponent make bad tactical decisions (using all his Expertise + fighting defensively) to boost his AC and reduce his chance to hit. As a result Melas scouted out holes in his enemies armor, leaped from ground to bench, watched his foe do the same, parried and dodged, saw his foe jump to a nearby table and ultimately landed a telling blow. That's what I want to see - if I hadn't done that his opponent's initial attack would have been at +5 to hit rather than -2, and he would have scored first blood right after the initiative roll. If we had made first blood equal to more than 1/3rd Melas HP that initial attack probably wouldn't have done enough to count, and the duel could have continued.
It also means that Deitrich's high initiative + sneak attack is still a legitimate way to end duels in a single hit - he's specifically trained to give potentially lethal wounds in that split second of indecision. Deitrich's style will continue to matter throughout the rest off the game with the fractional HP levels, where Hiram's two good dice rolls early on would not.
The only other option I can see is following ladegard's suggestion of borrowing the Wound/Stun rules, where your first level HP are wounds and everything else is stun. You don't take wounds - do not show signs of visible injury - until you are out of stun points or take a critical hit. But I don't want to do that because its another level of complication. I have to refigure monster stats etc. But if we don't set break points for when HP = wounds than frst blood is no indicator of skill.
However, if the two combatants wish to change the level of desired and formalized lethality so that the duel ends with 'Satisfaction' being defined as the first injury that requires magical healing (i.e. beyond 8 HP) or the first that requires the intervention of a high level cleric (say 1/3 to ½ total HP) that could be another possibility for to the two duelists and their seconds to consider.
I would rather see duelists going for a 'first error' in fights that are sparring - the first HP loss ends the duel, so the 60 HP poorly performed parry is enough to say that his opponent has forced him out of proper form and thus ended the duel. But that's a matter for judging, honor or friendly bouts. It works the same, but 'to first loss of an abstract defensive measurement' is the exception, not the rule.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2007-02-15 12:38 pm (UTC)I think you're misunderstanding me. I'm stating that 1/3rd of your HP is the first strike that draws a visible injury. Given the abstract nature of D&D HP this makes sense. To a 60 HP level fighter taking 5 HP from a rapier strike is some shock up the arm from an poorly performed parry - it's not the same effect as a 4 HP peasant taking that 5 HP shot as a rapier through the torso.
We're already in a setting with low AC so doing HP on an early attack is easy. Between low level duelists that first hit is likely to do more than 1/3rd of their opponents HP. But at higher levels a fight to first HP loss is meaningless - ACs aren't going to grow as fast as BAB or HP, but since
1) HP are already an abstract of combat ability
2) HP are one of the main forms of defense in the game
3) HP are one of the main indicators of skill in the game
giving HP some defined break points for when your defenses have been penetrated is worthwhile.
Otherwise it's all about initiative, which also controls AC. Making first blood = HP loss means that most battles are over in one round. Making it to over 1/3rd HP gives more time for people to change stances, jump onto benches, and do anything that would require more than taking a single attack.
Of four duels only Melas' got that effect, and that was because having seen the others I had his opponent make bad tactical decisions (using all his Expertise + fighting defensively) to boost his AC and reduce his chance to hit. As a result Melas scouted out holes in his enemies armor, leaped from ground to bench, watched his foe do the same, parried and dodged, saw his foe jump to a nearby table and ultimately landed a telling blow. That's what I want to see - if I hadn't done that his opponent's initial attack would have been at +5 to hit rather than -2, and he would have scored first blood right after the initiative roll. If we had made first blood equal to more than 1/3rd Melas HP that initial attack probably wouldn't have done enough to count, and the duel could have continued.
It also means that Deitrich's high initiative + sneak attack is still a legitimate way to end duels in a single hit - he's specifically trained to give potentially lethal wounds in that split second of indecision. Deitrich's style will continue to matter throughout the rest off the game with the fractional HP levels, where Hiram's two good dice rolls early on would not.
The only other option I can see is following
However, if the two combatants wish to change the level of desired and formalized lethality so that the duel ends with 'Satisfaction' being defined as the first injury that requires magical healing (i.e. beyond 8 HP) or the first that requires the intervention of a high level cleric (say 1/3 to ½ total HP) that could be another possibility for to the two duelists and their seconds to consider.
I would rather see duelists going for a 'first error' in fights that are sparring - the first HP loss ends the duel, so the 60 HP poorly performed parry is enough to say that his opponent has forced him out of proper form and thus ended the duel. But that's a matter for judging, honor or friendly bouts. It works the same, but 'to first loss of an abstract defensive measurement' is the exception, not the rule.